19-Year Old Arrested In Connection To Runaway Teen
FORT LAUDERDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- Hours after announcing a missing Fort Lauderdale teen was found safe at hotel, Fort Lauderdale Police arrested the 19-year-old man she was with.
James Adam Pescovitz Gider is charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a minor.
Police said Pescovitz Gider engaged in consensual sexual acts over the course of several days with 14-year-old Shaina McBride who had been reported missing Friday morning.
"There were lots of tears and hugs. I'm just glad everything's okay,"said her brother Benne McBride after learning she was found safe.
Police said the two teens were found at the Casa Alhambra hotel in Fort Lauderdale Wednesday and that the girl ran away voluntarily.
It's believed they've been seeing each other since June.
"Our investigators are still working this case. It's active and ongoing and there are questions that still need to be answered," Capt. Frank Sousa said.
Before any of those details came to light, her father told reporters outside the police department he knew his daughter likely wasn't at the hotel alone.
"There had to be circumstances that got her where she was," her father said. "It's not like she had money to pay for a hotel. Something and someone had to be involved here."
The teen's brother flew in from Idaho earlier this week to help find his sister.
"She was in good spirits," he said of his sister. "She was shocked that I was here all the way from Idaho. Last time I was here I didn't have a beard and her first comment was, 'Wow, you have a beard. Can I touch it?"
The girl's family and friends describe her as being active in church and a straight-A student.
Her father said she left the boat Friday morning without her shoes, purse or cell phone charger.
He was adamant she did not have a boyfriend.
While the family has a lot of questions to ask the 14-year-old, for now, her loved ones are just satisfied to know she's alive and well.
"It's been exhausting," her brother said. "We're really thankful that (she's) back with us."
The girl's brother says his father and sister are taking some alone time together out of the public eye to reconnect.
Pescovitz Gider will likely appear in court Thursday.
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